MSNBC “Live with Katy Tur”—one of the cable network’s afternoon news programs—filmed live outside the Danforth University Center at 1:00 p.m. yesterday.

In her segment “Battleground Campus Tour,” Tur discussed the most pressing midterm issues with students who are involved in politics and activism on campus as well as local experts such as KMOX radio’s Mike Kelley, St. Louis Public Radio’s political reporter Jo Mannies and KMOX-AM news radio’s John Hancock.

Student Life had the chance to sit down with Tur after the show and ask her a few questions about her time on campus and her thoughts on student voter engagement.

Jaden Satenstein

Student Life: When did the plans change to come to Washington University?

Tur: We pulled the trigger on Tuesday. I think we made a few calls and you guys came through quickly and we wanted to come to Wash. U.

SL: How do you feel everything went today?

T: I thought the turnout was great and the enthusiasm that the students have for politics and for current events and for civic engagement –the fact that they’re all registered and they’re going to vote. That’s a really big deal. That’s what you want to see. Across the board from 18 year olds to 98 year olds; people who want to be involved. I hope they actually vote.

SL: What do you feel like the students here today brought up as the most pressing issues?

T: There was a variety of issues, I found. It was employment is a big deal. Because you leave college and you want to get a good job, a job that will pay your bills, that will pay your student debt. And then raising the minimum wage, I think that’s important –that’s an issue that cuts across all barriers. Equality, equal representation. Equal representation not just on t.v. but equal representation across the board. And certainly in our government, which we really don’t have much of. If you look at women in government, the first woman elected to the Senate was in 1917. 1917 was a hundred years ago and then since then, we’re represented 20 percent in Congress. So in a hundred years, we’ve made it to 20 percent. We’ve go to do better than that.

SL: Since you’ve been going around and talking to a lot of students across college campuses, what do you think is most at stake in the midterm elections?

T: That depends on who you talk to. If you are a Republican, then the Supreme Court is at stake –if you’re a Democrat, then the Supreme Court is at stake. If you’re a supporter of Donald Trump, then Donald Trump’s presidency could potentially be at stake. If you’re somebody who thinks that there needs to be some more checks and balances, that’s at stake. I mean, it’s very individual and that’s just the way our democracy works but you can’t complain about it if you don’t participate.

SL: What’s your biggest piece of advice that you could give first time voters and just young voters in general.

T: Get educated. As much as you can. I know its a lot; a lot of issues are on the ballot, a lot of things that you might not know too much about and there’s all these ads that are just peddling false truths or false choices and it’s hard to see through that. So I would say, read newspapers, watch some news from a variety of sources to get to the truth. Don’t just go to your enclave on social media because you’re not going to get to the truth there. And listen to opposing viewpoints. Then, vote. Get there, vote, be ready to stand in line. My only advice is to listen to other people and not just boo the other side when you don’t like them. That’s disconcerting. That’s the problem that we have right now is everyone hates each other.

SL: Was there anything that shocked you from what students had to say today?

T: You know, I’m an outsider so I’m not well versed in the issues that affect Wash. U. specifically. That’s why I like that — that they were able to speak up about it. I love that. That young gentlemen who said, ‘where’s the diversity?’ I think that’s important. I think sometimes in general people just don’t see it and I loved that he pushed for it. I loved that we had Brandon come on and discuss minimum wage. I think that was such an important issue to bring up and we would not have done it unless the other guy raised his voice.

SL: Any other comments?

T: I love when you’re young that you’re not afraid of doing things that other people would consider rude. I think that’s great. I think you want to pipe up, you want to speak up, you want to push the boundaries and you want to say, ‘hey, I don’t feel like I’m being represented,’ and to fix it. Because if you don’t say it, you’re not going to fix it.